Definitive 2TB HD Roundup: WD, Seagate, Samsung

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HD Tach RW Testing

Simpli Software's HD Tach RW is described on the company's web site as such: "HD Tach is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices such as hard drives, removable drives, flash devices, and RAID arrays. HD Tach uses custom device drivers and other low level Windows interfaces to bypass as many layers of software as possible and get as close to the physical performance of the device being tested."

As far as HD Tach RW's write and read tests are concerned, if you were expecting a different pecking order from the previous tests, you'll be disappointed. The WD RE4 2TB once again takes top honors with a write speed of 101.2MB/Sec. Behind that is a relatively tight grouping, with the Seagate Constellation ES 2TB (99.9MB/Sec), Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB (99.5MB/Sec), WD Caviar Black 2TB (97.5MB/Sec), and WD Caviar Black 1TB (96.9MB/Sec). The Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB is yet again the speediest general-purpose drive.

On HD Tach RW's read test, the Seagate Constellation ES 2TB elbows its way to the top with a read speed of 116.4MB/Sec. It is closely followed by the WD RE4 2TB (115.8MB/Sec), Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB (114.8), WD Caviar Black 1TB (113.1MB/Sec), and the WD Caviar Black 1TB (111.7MB/Sec). The Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB leads the general-purpose HDDs with a read speed of 98.4MB/Sec.

HD Tach RW's burst speed test is the first test we ran where we actually saw the two 6Gb/Sec drives take a performance lead. The WD Caviar Black 1TB had an impressive burst speed of 314.3MB/Sec, while the Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB had a burst speed of 287MB/Sec. All of the HDDs had burst speeds that were over 200MB/Sec--the Seagate Constellation ES 2TB brought up the rear at a still impressive 212.5MB/Sec. The best the 120GB OCZ Vertex Turbo 2.5-inch SSD could do on the burst test, however, was 198.8MB/Sec. The OCZ SSD's write and read speeds were still leaps and bounds ahead of the HDDs, though, with a write speed of 154.8MB/Sec and a read speed of 223MB/Sec.